Tesla Q1 Earnings Highlights: EV Giant Misses Wall Street Estimates, Makes Cost Cuts, Invests In AI, Speeds Launch Of New Models

Electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc TSLA reported first-quarter financial results after the market close Tuesday.

Here are the key highlights.

What Happened: Tesla reported first-quarter revenue of $21.0 billion, which was down 9% year-over-year. The revenue total missed a Street consensus estimate of $22.15 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Automotive revenue was $17.38 billion in the quarter, down 13% year-over-year. Services and other revenue of $2.29 billion rose 25% year-over-year.

The company said revenue was impacted by lower average selling prices and lower vehicle deliveries in the quarter.

Earnings per share were 45 cents in the quarter, which missed a Street consensus estimate of 51 cents per share.

First-quarter deliveries and production of 386,810 units and 433,371 units, respectively, declined year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. The figures were also below estimates from analysts.

The company said challenges in the first quarter included an arson attack at Gigafactory Berlin, the ramp-up of the Model 3 in Fremont and the Red Sea conflict.

Tesla also said global electric vehicles face pressure.

The company saw energy storage of 4,053 MWh in the first quarter, which was up 4% year-over-year.

Supercharger locations totaled 6,249 at the end of the quarter, up 26% year-over-year.

The company reported digital assets of $184 million in the quarter, in line with past quarters.  

Related Link: Tesla Q1 Earnings Preview: Is EV Giant No Longer A ‘Growth Stock?’ Analysts Cautious, Want Answers About Robotaxis, Model 2

What's Next: Tesla recently announced job cuts that could be a key topic on the conference call later Tuesday.

"We recently undertook a cost-cutting exercise to increase operational efficiency. We also remain committed to company-wide cost reduction, including reducing COGS per vehicle," the company said.

Tesla said it is focused on profitable growth going forward.

A WARN notice said Tesla terminated 6,020 employees at its factories Tuesday, according to Reuters.

A slide in the investor report said the Tesla ecosystem is "more than just vehicles," highlighting Humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, full self-driving, ride-hail, energy storage, solar, insurance and more.

"We have been investing in the hardware and software ecosystems necessary to achieve vehicle autonomy and a ride-hailing service," the company said of artificial intelligence.

Tesla said it will continue to invest in core AI infrastructure in the coming months.

For its outlook, the company said it is between two growth waves that will see 2024 vehicle volume growth wind up "notably lower" than the 2023 growth rate.

The company said it has liquidity to fund its product roadmap, expansion plans and other expenses moving forward.

"We have updated our future vehicle line-up to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of our previously communicated start of production in the second half of 2025." This includes more affordable models and a next-generation platform, the company said.

A next-gen vehicle is listed as in development in Tuesday’s shareholder letter.

"This update may result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected but enables us to prudently grow our vehicle volumes in a more capex efficient manner during uncertain times."

TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares are up 5% to $152.20 in after-hours trading Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $138.80 to $299.29.

Read Next: Here’s How Much Warren Buffett Could Have Made Investing In Tesla

Photo courtesy of Tesla.